Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to operating a network node. In particular, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to measures for operating a network node in a telecommunications network.
Description of the Related Technology
Hosted business is a way of providing a telephone system for a company/office similar to that provided in the past by on-premises private branch exchange (PBX) devices, but with the service logic hosted in the telecoms service provider's network, rather than with expensive equipment being deployed in each business enterprise. This allows each worker to have their own phone with its own directory number, but also provides additional services such as:
Intercom dialing which is the ability to have a shorter (hence easier-to-remember) extension number for each phone that can be used when calls are made between two phones in the same business.
Automatic call distribution, for example involving call queuing, audio menus, and call direction to groups of phones to allow for “call center” functionality.
Call pick-up which is the ability for someone to answer a colleague's ringing phone on their own handset.
The Metaswitch™ Call Feature Server (CFS) provides hosted business functionality, and has the concept of a “business group” which represents a particular external business/company who is receiving hosted business services from the telecoms service provider deploying the CFS. Each business group contains a number of lines corresponding to the phones on the desks of the workers in the business. Each line is in a single business group because that worker belongs to that firm.
Emergency standalone (ESA) is a feature of networks that allows parts of the network (for example edge network “satellite” sites) to continue to function, providing basic phone services when disconnected from the core network.
For example, there may be a set of Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) lines, or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones that are physically connected to the network in one location, but the knowledge of which physical phone corresponds to which subscriber record and the routing functions of the telephone network are in some other “core” location/network. In distributed networks such as Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) or Metasphere Clustered CFS™ deployments, there may be Access Gateway Controllers (AGCs) in the edge network providing service for those MGCP (etc.) lines.